We're back. The festival is ongoing and our friends are here for another week, but going forward we'll be making time to share material. So above you see scans from Australia's Adam magazine, published August 1971, with British model Susan Shaw inside and Austrian actress Senta Berger on the rear. The cover illustrates I. W. Coughlan's story “Killer in Conflict,” in which an assassin is sent to kill an important scientist's daughter, who's a free love hippie. The killer finds his target easily enough, but the more she talks to him the less sure he is about his mission. Is it too late for him to turn over a new leaf? At the bottom, do you notice the cartoon concerning flights to Havana? Somebody help us. What's the joke there? We keep looking at it and can't understand what the cartoonist is trying for. While we wait for enlightenment on that, you can see many more issues of Adam by clicking its keywords below.

Update: the answer comes from J. Talley who explains: Hi. Longtime fan of your blog. In case no one else has answered your question about the Havana reference in the Aug. 1971 Adam magazine cartoon you put up a few days ago: aircraft hijackings to Cuba were relatively frequent in the late '60s/early '70s, so this would fall under the category of "topical humor."

The federal penitentiary located on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay closes. The island had been home to a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military prison over the years. In 1972, it would become a national recreation area open to tourists, and it would receive national landmark designations in 1976 and 1986.

1916—Einstein Publishes General Relativity

German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity. Among the effects of the theory are phenomena such as the curvature of space-time, the bending of rays of light in gravitational fields, faster than light universe expansion, and the warping of space time around a rotating body.

1931—Nevada Approves Gambling

In the U.S., the state of Nevada passes a resolution allowing for legalized gambling. Unregulated gambling had been commonplace in the early Nevada mining towns, but was outlawed in 1909 as part of a nationwide anti-gaming crusade. The leading proponents of re-legalization expected that gambling would be a short term fix until the state's economic base widened to include less cyclical industries. However, gaming proved over time to be one of the least cyclical industries ever conceived.

1941—Tuskegee Airmen Take Flight

During World War II, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, aka the Tuskegee Airmen, is activated. The group is the first all-black unit of the Army Air Corp, and serves with distinction in Africa, Italy, Germany and other areas. In March 2007 the surviving airmen and the widows of those who had died received Congressional Gold Medals for their service.

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